Jackets in First Place After Opening Day
TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – The Defiance College women’s track and field team racked up 52.50 points in the opening day of the 2009 HCAC Championships, leading all conference schools heading into the final day of events. The Jackets will look to use this momentum to carry them to their fourth HCAC crown.
TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – The Defiance College women's track and field team racked up 52.50 points in the opening day of the 2009 HCAC Championships, leading all conference schools heading into the final day of events. The Jackets will look to use this momentum to carry them to their fourth HCAC crown.
DC had two athletes claim individual titles on day one, as Emily Cole and Amanda Tooley each won events. Cole earned All-HCAC honors for the second consecutive season, winning the pole vault with a mark of 9-04.25. Tooley had a personal-record toss of 144-05 to win the hammer throw and garner All-HCAC honors for the first time in her career.
The Jackets got 34 of their points from the throwing events, as DC has five throwers score on the opening day. Holly Stein led the way in the shot put with her personal-record toss of 39-02.25 to finish second, edging out teammate Laura Dervo (38-07.00). Tooley (36-11.75) and Samantha Higdon (34-05.00) also scored in the event, while Derov (128-02.00) and Jessica Lipstraw (126-05) placed sixth and seventh in the hammer throw.
Kaitlin Switzer, Courtney Lantz and Alex Thiel also scored on the day. Switzer grabbed a third-place finish in the steeplechase with a time of 12:13.04, while Lantz and Thiel placed sixth and eighth in the pole vault.
Defiance put itself in position to carry its first-day success over to the final day of competition with a host of impressive performances in the preliminaries.
Kristin Goldstein established herself as one of the elite sprinters at the event, posting the fastest time in both the 100m and 200m dashes. The junior sprinter set a personal-record in the 100m with a time of 12.67, ranking third all-time on DC's outdoor performance list.
Marlea Rolander also impressed in the preliminaries, winning the 110m hurdles with a personal-best time of 15.38 while also qualifying for the finals in the 100m and 200m dashes. Kelly Neff qualified sixth in the 400m hurdles, crossing the line in 1:14.65 in her first-ever try at the event.
The final day of the HCAC Championships will kick-off tomorrow, Saturday, April 25 at 10:00 a.m. on the campus of Rose-Hulman.